AHMAC

Principal Committees

The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) has four principal committees which report directly to it. These Committees have dedicated areas of health in their purview and provide strategic advice to AHMAC.

Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC)

Membership
Comprises of Chief Health Officers from each of the jurisdictions.

Ongoing Role
The AHPPC has an ongoing role to advise AHMAC on health protection matters and national priorities. AHPPC is also tasked with the role of mitigating emerging health threats related to infectious diseases, the environment as well as natural and human made disasters. The Committee also works with states and territories to develop and adopt national health protection policies, guidelines, standards and alignment of plans.

Health Services Principal Committee (HSPC)

Membership
Deputy-Secretaries with responsibility for funding and managing health services, and other related skills such as performance frameworks.

Ongoing Role
The HSPC has an ongoing role to advise AHMAC on health services reform requiring national collaboration. In addition, the Committee promotes national population health initiatives while collaborating to improve key interfaces between national and state and territories funding and management of services, particularly: primary/acute hospital interface, care of older persons and the public/private interface. HSPC also works to improve health system capability (including digital health, performance measures and national health information strategy) as well as advising on workforce planning and reform arising from the work of the National Nursing and Midwifery Education Advisory Network (NNMEAN), the National Medical Training Advisory Network (NMTAN) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Mental Health Principal Committee (MHPC)

Ongoing Role
The MHPC’s role is to develop and implement a shared National Mental Health and Suicide Plan in addition to advising AHMAC on mental health and drug service issues of national significance.